Baseball

The Emmanuel College Baseball Team is World Series Bound

May 17, 2017

The Lions have captured their first NCCAA South Region Title since 2000 and have received an automatic bid to the NCCAA World Series in Mason, Ohio. The South Region tournament was held this past week at Toccoa Falls College. Emmanuel entered the tournament as the top seed and did not disappoint. They used stellar pitching allowing only 6 earned runs, a 2.08 Earned Run Average, and strong hitting, a .389 Team Batting Average, to go undefeated in the tournament. The Lions outscored their opponents 31-8 over the three games they played.

Along with a winning the Region Championship there were several Lions that earned All-South Region recognition for their accomplishments throughout the season…

In game one the Lions squared off against the Selma University Bulldogs. The Bulldogs struck first scoring 2 runs on 4 consecutive hits to lead off the first inning. The Bulldogs added a run in the fifth with a two out single by Watkins and double in the gap by Woodland. Trailing 3-0 Daniel Gooden led off the bottom of the fifth with a single to right field. After advancing to second on a balk Gooden moved up to third on Jacob Teston's ground out to short. Brandon Taylor singled up the middle on an 0-2 pitch to put the Lions on the board. Lion starter Dalton Kuhn allowed 3 earned runs through his sixth innings of work while striking out four before giving way to reliever Cody Waters. Waters kept the Selma offense off the board in the seventh and eighth innings setting the table for the Lion offense. With one out in the bottom of the eighth lead off man Philip Swindell hit a line drive to Bourne in center field but was dropped as he crashed into the outfield wall. With Swindell safe at third base Brock Baughcum would push across the second run of the game with a Sacrifice Fly to Left Field. Still trailing 3-2 Hanon Price ripped a single down the left field line and after a hit batter put runners at first and second for the Lions with two outs Daniel Gooden stepped to the plate. On a 1-1 pitch Gooden laced a double down the left field line to tie the game. Looking to capitalize on two men in scoring position and take their first lead of the game Jacob Teston took his place in the batters box. Teston wasted no time depositing the first pitch of the At-Bat over the trees in Right Center Field. Looking to protect their first lead of the game Cody Waters went out for the ninth. Attacking the strike zone with the lead Waters induced a weak ground out to first to start the inning. With one down Selma showed some fight as Kendrick hit a hard single up the middle. The rally was quickly exterminated as a fielders choice for out number two was followed by a strikeout looking to close out the game and keep the Lions in the winners bracket.

The Winners bracket game would pit the Lions against the Toccoa Falls Eagles, two teams that split the season series at a game a piece. The Lions would strike in the top of the first. Lead off batter Philip Swindell was walked and courtesy runner Tim Manning would come around to score on Hanon Price's single. Eric Pape was hit by a pitch and a fly out to left field would put runners at first and second for Jacob Teston. Teston would line a hard hit for an RBI single and a 2-0 lead. After Brandon Taylor singled to load the bases Dallas Richards 2 RBI single would push across the third and fourth runs of the first inning. Taking the mound for the Lions with a 4 run lead would be Sophomore Cooper Murphy. After a scoreless bottom of the first the offense would strike again. Swindell singled to start off the second and moved to second base on a sacrifice by Brock Baughcum. Eric Pape's two out RBI single extended the lead to 5-0. The Eagle offense scratched across a run in the third inning after singles by Tamayo, Thomas and Allen. It would be the only Earned Run Murphy would allow on the day. After two quiet innings by the Lion offense they got back to work in the fifth and scored two runs with two out singles by Richards, Livingston, Swindell and Baughcum. Toccoa answered back in the bottom of the fifth with two unearned runs to keep the score close at 7-3. With one out in the top of the sixth Jacob Teston would launch his second home run of the tournament, a two run blast that would score Daniel Gooden. The Lions looked to break the game open as a Brandon Taylor walked and Dallas Richards doubled to put runners at second and third. Both runners would come across to score on a Chace Livingston ground out and Philip Swindell single. The five run inning would be capped off as Brock Baughcum roped a double in the gap to score courtesy runner Tim Manning. With the lead now at 12-3 Cooper Murphy would cruise through the next 3 innings retiring 6 of the last 7 batters. Eric Pape singled in two runs in the top of the eighth inning to finish off all scoring in the game.

Looking to wrap up their first region title in 17 years the Lions would take the field against the Eagles from Trinity Baptist. Daniel Gooden would take the mound for the championship game. Trinity lead off man Pedraza would reach on a chopper in the hole at short and come around to score after a sacrifice bunt, a balk and a wild pitch. This would be the only inning that the Eagles would get to Gooden as he would go 5 innings allowing only the lone run and striking out four. The Lions would answer back in the bottom of the first as Gooden would help his own cause with an RBI groundout scoring Tim Manning from third base. Eagle starter Cohick would not be out done by Gooden as he matched him with shut out innings in the second and third. Leading off the fourth inning Eric Pape singled to bring up Gooden. Just like in his first At Bat Gooden would help his own cause, this time with a two run homer to right center field. Not wanting to be out done Jacob Teston lifted a 1-2 pitch deep over the right center wall for back to back home runs and his third of the week. Brandon Taylor, who reached on a single, and Dallas Richards, walk, were moved into scoring position by a Chace Livingston sacrifice bunt. Both runners would come around to score as Philip Swindell doubled in the left center gap. Brock Baughcum tripled, Hanon Price doubled, Eric Pape and Daniel Gooden singled to push across three more runs. The Lions would tally two more runs to cap off the ten run inning. Zach Wells would enter the game on the mound and pick up right where Gooden left off pitching a scoreless inning. The Eagles would score a lone run in the seventh inning but wouldn't get any closer than 11-2. Austin Copeland would come on to close out the championship with 2.1 innings of scoreless work.